Sunday, August 19, 2012

NCNs 63 & 64 in Harborough and High Leicestershire:Refurbishment of signage

This has been an unusual project, whereby Sustrans volunteers from the Leicester Sustrans Rangers Group carried out by agreement extensive refurbishment works to Leicestershire County Council signage.

Scope

Sign at Goadby in 2011

The signage covered by this work is that in the area east and south of Leicester, which guides riders along NCN 64 from Market Harborough to Melton Mowbray, and along NCN 63 from E Leicester to Stamford - 55km of route altogether. Around 80 signposts, most bearing multiple signboards, were involved. The primary need was to replace the signs along NCN 64 and its joint stretch with NCN 63, which had faded since their original installation to partial or complete illegibility.

Goadby sign after the project

The Sustrans Area Manager in Leicester proposed in January 2011 the services of the Leicester Sustrans Rangers
Group to Leicestershire County Council, the owners of the signage, for refurbishment of these signs. This proposal was accepted, the Council agreeing to contribute to the cost of materials for the work.

Work done

Step 2: design of the sign stickers needed

Step 1 Route surveys: conducted in 2011 to define which signs required replacement faces, and other work required, e.g. to damaged sign mountings. Step 2 Definition and design of materials needed for new sign facesStep 3 Ordering of materials from Sustrans HQ; arrangement of contribution towards funding of these materials by County Council.Step 4 Risk Assessment for the fieldwork stage of replacing the sign facesStep 5 Replacement of sign faces in the field plus fixing sign problems.

The fieldwork in Step 5, preceded by an introductory briefing by the Project Leader, was itself carried out in distinct steps - at which participants got more practiced as the work progressed:
• decide which sticker(s) required from those procured [a general sign face of white cycle on blue background; a 'Trail' name, where relevant; NCN route patch(es)]
• trim any vegetation which interfered with access to sign and/or its visibility
• remove signboard from post if necessary, e.g. if access awkward
• wash and dry off the signboard(s)
• trim sticker(s) to size where necessary
• affix sticker(s). If more than one, emplace in the order which would produce the neatest/clearest result**
• remount signboard
• ensure all other signboards securely fixed

. . . and adds the Route patches

** Note that handling such large plastic stickers - especially in the field - is an acquired skill. A flat working surface, allowing dry and wind-free working, is essential. This often implies removal of the signboard from the post,
say into a car, to get a good result with no distortion or air bubbles under the surface.

Organisation

At Cranoe

The project was led by John Woodward of Leicester Group. Peter Wright, John Dyson and Keith Drury participated in the site surveys and sign replacement work. Area Managers Patrick Davis and James Lowe were involved in obtaining
Council agreement and funding, and sign materials were provided by Sustrans Volunteer Support in Bristol.
Of the ~80 sign locations covered in this job, 6 need substantial repair (e.g. post leaning badly) or reinstatement of missing signboards, which Rangers could not in fact undertake. Rangers installed temporary Sustrans signs as far as possible to cover the issues in the short term, but have requested Council action at the
required locations to ensure the integrity of NCN 64 signage.

Record
A full report on this project is available from
jwoodward@hotmail.co.uk or
keith@drurys.org.uk
It has been passed to Sustrans Volunteer Co-ordination and the County Council.

Wednesday, August 15, 2012

Just regard this contribution from me as a kickstart so we can get going again - I'll try and add more, and with the sincere hope that the use of this blog, both reading and contributions, by the rest of our Leicester Group will improve this time round. The blog SHOULD be an important vehicle for our internal Group communication and motivation, and for recording and reporting our not inconsiderable achievements for the neighbouring Groups and Corporate Sustrans. Blog didn't really take off last time, but maybe we can do better now.

I, at least, have also only just discovered the East Midlands Sustrans Rangers blog, thanks to Area Manager James Lowe pointing us to it. Comments on our posts from neighbouring Groups would be especially welcome!

Welcome to the Leicester Sustrans Rangers blog.

We care for the Sustrans routes in and around Leicester. We support the work of Sustrans, the national charity promoting sustainable transport, by monitoring the routes that pass through our region, updating and advising on signing, keeping the paths clear and in good condition for cyclists and pedestrians.